Remember when video content was supposed to kill the written word and create a more visual web? Remember when video was supposed to have killed the radio star? Once again it seems the ‘experts’ may have written audio off prematurely.
In our digital age where time is the new currency, there is an increasing pressure to take advantage of every second. As a result, it’s the rise of audio and the evolution of podcasts that is now taking centre stage.
Many people are also turning to audio assistants in their daily lives like Siri, Amazon Alexa, Microsoft Cortana, and Google, because it is has become easier to search for information using our voice. Mainstream users are already getting comfortable with speaking to their devices rather than tapping things out on a keyboard or a phone.
It was back in 2005 that Apple first added podcasts to iTunes back in 2005 but we are only just beginning to understand the value of the human voice. Engaging with an audience on the other side of the world by beaming your voice into their ears is now possible for anyone via a podcast. But one of the reasons why podcasts have suddenly become so popular is that they are almost effortless on the part of the consumer and they can be engaged with while you are doing something else like exercising, commuting or walking the dog!
Is audio replacing music? Not quite. We all still love the idea of being able to access any song or any album at the touch of a button but Spotify continues to add more podcasts to their platform.
Podcasts are also finally bursting out of the limitations of iTunes and available on other platforms such as Amazon Echo and Spotify.
The Vatican is getting in on the audio act too with a new APP to help listeners to tune into the Pope now available for mobile devices in five languages.
Created by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, the app “Vatican Audio” can be downloaded free from the App Store and from Google Play. One can also scan the QR code above to open the link to the download page of “Vatican Audio”. After installing, all you need to do is to choose your language and simply listen.
Pope Francis, who generally speaks in Italian, can be heard live in Spanish, English, French, German and Portuguese. When he speaks in his native Spanish, the app also provides the audio in Italian.
Pilgrims and visitors attending papal events in Saint Peter’s Square can also follow the Pope in the five languages.
This service is in addition to the live broadcasts in different languages already available online and on radio.
Search for “Vatican Audio” in the App Store and Google Play as a free download and tune in to Pope Francis.
This is a wonderful development that will now bring Pope Francis even more followers on the various digital platforms that he is present on.
I read a quote online recently where someone described the way we consume information now, saying that we are all raconteurs now that share our unique stories around virtual campfires. Video may attempt to kill the radio or audio star in the future and platforms will continuously change, but how we consume content remains largely the same.
Official hashtags for WMOF2018 and a new Pope emoji
Many will receive this September issue of Intercom Magazine in August just as we are about to begin the World Meeting of Families 2018. The official hashtags for linking in with the visit are #popeinireland and #papaineirinn
There will also be a Pope emoji which will activate during the visit of Pope Francis when these official hashtags are used on Twitter.
For more on the digital output of WMOF2018 follow us on Twitter and Instagram as @wmof2018 and find us on Facebook as World Meeting of Families 2018
This article is courtesy of Intercom Magazine, in which I write the monthly Get Connected column. This article was first published in the September 2018 issue of the magazine.
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